This latest attack is the second in just four days.
In the game of ‘proxy groups in the Middle East’, Iran arms and equips the Yemeni Houthis, who in turn arm and equip the Somali pirates.
This has transformed the crude attacks of a decade ago into much more dangerous affairs, with pirates much better armed and reportedly using satellite tracking intel to chase their prey.
In this latest incident, they hijacked an oil products tanker in their usual hunting ground, the Gulf of Arden off Yemen.
Associated Press reported:
“Six armed pirates hijacked the Eritrean-flagged M.T. Sibu 1 on Thursday about 136 nautical miles (252 kilometers) east of al-Mukalla, Yemen, and took it toward Somalia’s Puntland coast.
[…] The Sibu 1, managed by the UAE-based Qatrat Alnada Almasi Ship Management, was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department last year for allegedly belonging to an Iranian ‘shadow fleet’ used to transport petroleum products seeking to evade U.S. sanctions.”
Hellbound and Down 